The management shake-up in July, though, did throw a spotlight on a number of executives such as Kevin Turner and Julie Larson-Green who were key players in the reorg and could possibly take the helm. The Journal’s Shira Ovide took a look at potential successors:

Kevin Turner: Microsoft’s longtime chief operating officer (and therefore the titular No. 2) basically stays put. Turner leads the company’s sales force, and he’s developed a reputation for not mincing words. Microsoft insiders doubt, however, that Turner would ever be chief of a company that lionizes engineering and tech expertise. He also is the highest-paid executive at Microsoft, pulling down compensation last year that Microsoft valued at $10.7 million.

Terry Myerson: One of the big winners in Ballmer’s reorganization. Myerson catapults from running Microsoft’s tiny Windows Phone smartphone business, into the engineering boss for the heart of Microsoft–the operating software for Windows-based PCs, servers, smartphones and Xbox.

Julie Larson-Green: Larson-Green, who took over as engineering boss at Windows less than a year ago, now shifts from software to run Microsoft’s hardware business. Ballmer has said Microsoft is changing from a company known for operating systems and application software into one that will deliver devices and services. That will elevate Larson-Green. Her empire for now includes the Surface tablet-style computer and the Xbox videogame console, which collectively bring in a single-digit-percentage of Microsoft’s total revenue. But that portfolio will definitely grow, meaning Washington State lifer Larson-Green may have an expanding empire.

Satya Nadella: He has won many fans inside of Microsoft as leader of Microsoft’s businesses including back-end server software, databases and other invisible but hugely profitable corporate technologies. Ballmer has given Nadella huge kudos for making his businesses relevant in “cloud” computing, on computing services distributed or delivered online. And there have been whispers Ballmer has sought to position Nadella as a potential successor. The reshuffle announced Thursday gives Nadella a bigger set of chores, including building data centers to house computing networks.

Tony Bates: The former Cisco executive and Skype CEO came aboard when Microsoft bought Skype in 2011. Bates has been handed more and more duties since then, including being put in charge of Microsoft’s Lync video teleconference product. Now, Bates is will have to wrangle Microsoft’s often fraught relationships with characters that include PC makers, chip makers, smartphone partner Nokia and other software developers. He’s one of the few members of the executive bench that has logged significant time as an executive anywhere but Microsoft.

Qi Lu: He has been running Microsoft’s money-losing Bing Web-search engine, and now will take over big chunks of the company’s software products including the cash cow Office bundle of workplace software.